Four years ago, seven Los Gatos men got together to make a small difference in the lives of several homeless families in San Jose. What started as one barbecue dinner has turned into more than 5,000 meals served and countless lives touched.

The “Steak Guys,” as they are known to everyone at the San Jose Family Supportive Housing Center, come together once a month to cook a barbecued tri-tip dinner–complete with mashed potatoes, corn, salad, dessert and lemonade–for the residents of the shelter, which houses more than 30 homeless families with children.

The group, Alta Vista Community Service, was formed in February 2010 by Los Gatos resident George Silva as a way to connect with friends and give back to the community after retiring from his senior executive position at a high-tech Silicon Valley company.

Silva says he originally thought about starting a men’s social club to bring his friends together but also knew that he wanted to find something meaningful to do in the spare time retirement had given him. Combining the two seemed like the perfect plan.

“I was trying to build some camaraderie but, most importantly, provide for the community,” Silva said. “It’s actually been more engaging than perhaps I originally thought.”

Silva says part of the inspiration for giving back during his retirement came from watching his wife and the wives of his friends working in the community for many years.

“All of the things they did for a number of years while we worked and the kids were in school, the men are doing now,” he said. “Our wives think it’s great.”

Though the group originated with seven Los Gatos men, Silva says that through word of mouth, membership today has grown to more than 50 and includes men from all over Silicon Valley.

Each meal the men cook costs roughly $400. Knowing that the dinners were something he wanted to continue doing as long as possible, Silva had a goal from the beginning of reaching 50 members because that would financially support the dinners going forward. Members are asked to contribute a $100 a year and help cook whenever they can.

“Members of the group are very enthusiastic and always willing to help,” Silva said. “It makes a big difference when they actually serve and prepare a meal at the center. It really gets them more engaged.”

Silva said five to seven men usually show up each month to help cook at the shelter, then the group goes out afterward to get the social part in as well.

Los Gatos resident Dick Begin joined the group after he retired a little over two years ago when he also began thinking about what to do next.

“I was looking for something to do that had value and also wanted to connect on a social level,” said Begin, who cooks at the shelter four to five times a year. “We all really enjoy each other’s company, but we especially enjoy the feeling we get when people at the shelter come in an thank us. It’s a wonderful, good feeling. It’s a win-win, and frankly we get more out of it than we put in.”

For the employees and families of the center, the men are a welcome sight each month. Christi Moyer Kelly, the center’s community resource manager, says that everyone gladly embraced the group from the moment it first came in–although back then she says they had no idea the men would still be coming four years later.

“We thought it would be difficult, expensive and hard to get a group of guys together on a regular basis so we had no real expectations,” Moyer Kelly said. “We thought it would be a great one-time dinner.”

Instead, Moyer Kelly says, the group’s dinners have turned into the center’s most popular night with almost 100 percent of the residents attending.

“These guys are real pros,” she said. “They come so often that people really get to know them and the night they are coming.”

Additionally, the group bought a brand-new, six-burner Weber grill for the center, which they use to cook their meals, and the center or other volunteer groups can use it whenever they like.

“When we moved into our new shelter, they bought us a new, beautiful barbecue. It’s so exciting,” Moyer Kelly said. “It’s great to be able to smell our dinner cooking, and it’s really nice to see the guys out on the terrace barbecuing and everyone knows it’s coming. It kind of really feels like home when that’s going on.”

After hosting 51 dinners at the shelter, the Steak Guys have their barbecue night down to a science, and they have no plans to let up anytime soon. If anything, Silva says he would like the group to be an inspiration to other groups and organizations to do the same. He is even willing to show them firsthand how it’s done.

“Just sustaining what we have today is a success in my mind,” he said. “Perhaps the next step is to have a church group or other organization that wants to volunteer and serve a meal come out and join us for an evening so that they can see what we do and how we do it and teach others to do the same.

“If more people would form these little organizations and do these things, you could have an exponential impact to providing the need that is required out there.”

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